It's Friday and it's about time!

It was a long-ish week and it culminated with a rather odd encounter with a colleague of mine which left me going "whattaf..." in my head.

So I went to speak to Auntie A. (she totally enjoys the new nickname) and in her wisdom, sagely counseled me and siply put, basically explained to let it go: there will always be folks, no matter where you work, who will complain/nag/instigate/argue and you can't let it all get to you.

The TAG activity was a success with some elements to be ironed out, as always. There is room for improvement, definitely. But a success, for sure.

This is how full my plate is...

... so picture my hand about a foot off the so-called plate. It's been a crazy week and I am trying to get through it all without choking on any big chunks.

Last week: Orthodox Easter, awesome mechoui (lamb-on-the-spit bbq-party). Mother Nature tired to prevent us from having this mega bbq but we prevailed and much fun was had.

This week: Talent show rehearsals, my theory exam (for my learner's permit, which will lead to my license, the driving test is on June 1st), errands to the florist for grad and the movie theater to pick up much awaited prizes, and finally the TAG activity for Peaceful Schools International.

Which brings me to this point: if anyone has any complaints about what I do for the school, or what contributions I do to make the school a better place, or what I have my students do in my Leadership class, I want those individuals to express their discontent/frustration/malaise directly to me. There is nothing more that I hate in this world than hearing from a third party about how bossy I am, or how I boring an activity is, or how they don't understand the point of an acitivity, or even how they think it's pointless to do such activities because students don't participate. I can handle criticism when expressed to me, I can learn from my mistakes when pointed out to me and not someone above me, as if a reprimand was necessary by some principal who actually supports what I do.

It makes me wonder why some teachers entered this profession. I teach because I love teaching, I teach because I get a kick out of the kids (most of the time), I teach because I love the captive audience and I think I can impart some knowledge, if not related to the subject that I am teaching then related to something that matters to my students. I love feeding that curiosity they have and answering the need to clear up clouds that clog their brain. If I have to put extra time, extra hours, enduring guitar music in the hallway at lunch, sitting down with the lunch crowd and just chill, spending time supervising rehearsals, I don't care. I like it, I enjoy it. Yes, I am pooped afterwards, but I do it with a smile. At school, I always smile. I'm sometimes so perky, it's nauseating. Really nauseating. But I do it and I never ever say that what I am doing is beyond what my contract stipulates. Screw the contract. And for the record, I hate it when a teacher complains about doing something that is fun, different, entertaining and gosh-darn exciting under the pretext that it's not part of their contract. The contract excuse can be used when you are getting shafted by administration and so far that has not happened to me since I got to this school board.

If I ever become bitter and angry and petty like that, I'm getting the fudge out of teaching. And fast.

Les Photos from ze Gala

As promised, pictures of the gala, well, mostly of my group at the gala... We made an obligatory coffee run before getting to the Corona Theater (working on 3 hours of sleep, Heaven help me), hence the takeout coffee cups. Please note that I am not the only caffeine freak here. And I drink decaf, thankyouverymuch...

The Entrepreneurship Gala

So yesterday, on 3 1/2 hours sleep, I herded my Leadership class to the Corona Theater in Montreal and attended a gala honoring the local winners of the entrepreneurship contest. I think we were the oldest group there, but my students acted a wee bit like they were the youngest mentally... *sigh* How the frag I survived yesterday still escapes me and by the end of the day my head felt like an oversized watermelon.

But it was worth it. I love spending time with this group. They have so much energy and infectious enthousiasm that can brighten up my day. Ok, Dave and Sam can act like total spazzes (like when they were lusting after this teacher attending the gala, who was, à mon avis, around the age of 35), but even they act like spazzes, they can be somewhat funny.

We won 100$ and the chance to win at the regional gala which I believe is in 3 or 4 weeks. I took some pictures and will post them tonight if I can. I could have done so last night, but I was about as alert as a vegetable yesterday.

I don't want to disappoint Môôôssieu Carlôôô...

... but not only did I get Good Friday and Easter Monday off, I also get tomorrow off. And if he lived in Greece, he'd be getting this week and next week off (since Greek Easter is this coming Sunday)

In Greece, they call this Megali Evdomada, or Holy Week, and my sister got plenty of WTFs when she announced that she would be tutoring this week (she lives in Greece). I guess chargin time and a half would be insulting, from a religious point of view.

Carlo shouldn't feel to jealous though. I do have a crap-load of work to finish before Wednesday. Got some of it done today, but a lot of it is prep work that needs to be done, and that can take forever.

Student cooties!

I have just spent the last 2 days with 2 of my Leadership students, the Dave and Holly... 2 days. In my home. Miss Harris says I now officially have student cooties.

Let me clarify why I had these 2 students over at my place: my hubby and I wanted to repaint and rearrange the entire basement and seeing as Mark enjoys root canals more than painting, I figured I needed some extra hands with painting. Enter Dave and Holly who gladly volunteered in return for some of my husband's home cooking ("it's just something I threw together...") Friday was painting and today was furniture moving, which was a 2 man job (yes, 2 man, not 2 person, I am ineffective when furniture needs moving, Dave and Mark took care of that)

We actually got along famously and I think my husband and students mischieviously plotted against me... I expect to hear a lot of "Focus Miss!" and "CONTEXT!" from now on in class...how nice.

Talent Show on May 4th

We are in full gear for the Talent Show and SPM has yet to rear its ugly head. I think we have some good acts this year that won't make me panic too much, unlike last year when we had Danny Cho and his crew and Lord knows anyone can find themselves in FPM when he's around.

So far, we have several singing acts, a few dance acts, 2 bands and possible a Michael Jackson impersonator... well, he doesn't quite imitate him, but he dances a lot like him. And of course, I will participate in it as well. Not sure what I will do but, I'm certain anything I do will garner a few good laughs which is what counts!

Entrepreneurship Contest

We won! We finally won! And we are going to Disneyland! Uh, well maybe not Disney, but we are going to a gala on the 19th, the entire group and myself. I wonder how much we won...and if we will recieve shiny things. Shiny things are fun. They're shiny... and pretty... *giggle*

Ok so I am really really really giddy about this. Sue me! We just busted our tushes off for this so I can be giddy if I want to.

Pictures will definitely be incoming!

Busy Week

It was a busy week so I didn't really get the chance to post. So how about a quick recap:

- The Dave still has glitter in his hair.
- Gave out term grades this week and it is unbelievable how many students are ignorant about the work they DON'T hand in. "What do you mean I have a 52?" *sigh* And they expect to get succeed in college. No one is going to hold their hand there...
- Met the DJs for prom. They seem to know what they are doing. Good vibe from them.
- Met the printer for the prom tickets. If we play our cards right, it will be a freebie.
- Conference on Thursday. Did some networking, impressed a few big wigs at the schoolboard, shocked some who didn't believe I am 23 weeks preggers.
- Gave a good grammar lesson about les participes passés on Friday. Made many laugh with my witty examples (He ate pie/ Il a mangé de la tarte was the funniest, when told in context of course, but that were some spicier ones too... a few PG-13 jokes here and there always keeps them on their toes and tells me if they are awake or asleep)

I have got to stick to my todo list this week. I have a crap load of stuff to tackle.